Finger Lickin' Good Glaze
"Tulsa have you ever had strudel before?"
"Strudel? Sure I have. Gained five pounds since I was stationed here off it he he."
"Well I will make you some."
Tulsa couldn't believe his luck. His chance to get in Lili's apartment and strudel on top of it. Still he needs to play it cool.
"Oh you don't have to go to all this trouble."
"Oh no it's no trouble at all. My roommate Tina's birthday is tomorrow and I was going to make it anyway. It only takes 50 minutes."
This really is his lucky night. 50 whole minutes just to wait for the strudel. Then of course you just have to have coffee to go with it so that would be an extra five minutes to make that. With getting into the door, all the prep work and cleaning that's at least an hour. One whole hour to convince Lili to let Tulsa stay the night. Sounds doable.
"Well if you're sure. At least let me call a cab."
"You don't need to do that. It's only a 15 minute walk."
Make that about an hour and 15 minutes. As if things can't get any better. Now he can simply spend the next 15 minutes alone to butter up Lili's dough.... that sounded wrong.
"Is this your place here?"
"Yes we just go up the stairs."
"I hope we don't wake your roommate, Tina."
It's a leading statement but he has to say it anyway.
"We won't. Tina has the nightshift at the club."
It just got better. That's at least eight hours. Plenty of time to win the bet.
"Such a shame she has to work on a night like this."
"No it's not a shame at all. This strudel was meant to be a surprise."
"Well then Tina's going to be in for a great surprise."
The clock to win the bet started as soon as they got into the door. Naturally Lili has to remove her coat, which Tulsa of course helps her with. Then Tulsa has to "pretend" to look for a hat rack which is another 30 seconds in his favor.
"You know I never actually saw anyone make strudel. Do you make the dough yourself?"
"Yes it's very easy to do. You can work for your strudel."
"I'd do anything for some homemade strudel, Lili."
"Good. Get some butter and the flour."
Tulsa wonders if Lili knows he's trying to get in with her and is only setting him up for heartbreak. Still he has to try. At least waste another 10 minutes before the strudel even gets into the oven.
"Now that the dough is made, we put it into the refrigerator for 15 minutes."
"And then we can start making the strudel?"
Lili laughs.
"You are a hungry boy. The dough has to be rolled and folded again before being put back into the refrigerator for another 30 minutes."
Tulsa looks up at the clock. This dough will take an entire hour to make.
"I thought strudel only takes 50 minutes?"
"Strudel takes 50 minutes. The dough has to be prepared first which takes time. Germans are more patient that way."
Tulsa isn't complaining though. By the time the strudel's even done, Tulsa will have been in Lili's apartment for two hours.
"Are you hungry, Tulsa?"
"Hmm. Oh yeah. Like I said I'm a growing boy."
She smiles.
"I'll make you a sandwich while we wait. Do you like Liederkranz on pumpernickel?"
"I like just about everything."
"I'm sure you do."
The 30 minutes pass and Tulsa can honestly feel Lili wants him to be around her. There's no rush to get him food and tell him to get out. Nightclub here he comes.
"Uh Lili do you want me to preheat the oven now?"
"Yes, you have to set it to 200 degrees."
Tulsa chooses not to fumble around since he obviously knows she means Celsius. Helping her prepare the strudel is starting to be fun anyway. It's almost enough fun to make Tulsa forget about the bet entirely. Especially when Lili asks if he wants to glaze her strudel.... that once again sounds wrong but she was being very literal.
"I didn't know you glaze your strudel too."
"Typically we don't. This is something new I want to try so it can be more American."
"Ah well the glaze I'm sure's easy to make. It's just thick icing you put on it."
Tulsa can swear that he doesn't mean to sound dirty but he's quickly finding that talking about food can be oddly sexual at times.
"Then we can give it a try and see how it turns out."
The result of watching Lili dribble the glaze over the strudel only makes the kitchen even hotter than it already was with that oven on.
"Do you want to lick the spoon, Tulsa?"
It has to be intentional. It just has to be. There's no way she would hold the spoon that current has white icing dripping from it like that if it wasn't.
"Sure."
He takes the spoon and if put on the stand he would swear it was an accident that some icing dripped on Lili's fingers.
"Oh. I'm so sorry Lili. I'll get you a napkin."
"No need, I can take care of it myself."
She licks her finger and Tulsa swore he felt a twitch in his pants.
"Are you alright, Tulsa? Your face looks red."
"Yeah. I'm just... embarrassed. I'm usually not this clumsy."
He takes the spoon and puts it in his mouth so he can't say anything stupid.
"I wouldn't worry. It's only icing. I don't think I made it thick enough since you're starting to have it drip on your finger too."
Tulsa winces at the mess.
"I'll get a napkin."
"Why? I'm not bothered if you lick your fingers."
"I'm sure you're not it's just something I generally don't do."
Lili smirks. The kind of smirk that looks like a cat about to eat a fat canary.
"It isn't so hard. I'll show you how easy it is."
Before Tulsa can say anything she takes his hand and licks the glazed finger. Definitely on purpose then.
"Oh."
"See. It doesn't have to be something you need to be embarrassed about."
Tulsa eyes her up.
"Can we... do that again?"
"The bowl is right there on the counter if you want more glaze. We already used enough on the strudel."
Lili sticks her fingers into the bowl and swipes the side.
"Now you try."
This is his chance. Maybe. Just maybe. Tulsa can convince Lili to lick more than just the glaze tonight.
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Tagging: @thetaoofzoe, @elvisobsessed, @thankhe, @hooked-on-elvis, @wiseyouthinfluencer,
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